To Sasuke…
by Katsumi27
Summary: Bringing You Back AU - Sasuke has returned to Konoha after the war and after fighting with Naruto yet again. After everything Sasuke cannot understand how Naruto could still want him there. His own cynical thoughts lead him to believe he is being pitied and so he begins to go against Naruto out of anger. Sakura finally has enough and decides it's time to open his eyes to the truth.


**Bringing You Back AU**

A drabble based on a post-war AU where Sasuke has returned to Konoha after Naruto beats him in a battle. Naruto desperately wants for him to be able to call Konoha home once again, but Sasuke still can't wrap his head around why he should even be there. It seems nothing Naruto says can help him understand, so Sakura takes it upon herself to help.

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"You know…he's never once looked down on you. Naruto, I mean. People always ask…**why has he's spent so much time chasing after you?** We've all heard the story millions of times. And I think theres still something new every time he tells it. Even though some of us were there too, apparently we couldn't see what he saw.

"Do you know why he calls you his rival? It didn't start when team 7 was formed. Apparently he's been watching you since way before that. Well…at that time everyone was watching you so I suppose it wasn't strange. You were at the top of the class, your kunai and shuriken skills were amazing, you never failed at anything. To him, you were the highest point, you were his goal. He wanted to be like you. I don't know if you remember what he was like during our academy days…everyone always got annoyed with him…he didn't even try anymore. He just pulled pranks and didn't care about anything. But everything about him changed when we graduated…When we became Team 7. Even before you left, you were still the reason he worked so hard to improve.

"Remember that mission to the land of the waves? You two spent all night training until you could hardly stand…Looking back, it must have been the same for you then. Although we all know you wouldn't have admitted it. Except later you did. During the chuunin exams…Still, even before you said it, you had already acknowledged him by competing against him. Just by watching him train, that was all the acknowledgement he needed from his number one rival. And when you saved him…even though you hadn't known each other for very long…Even I'm not sure what that did to him, but you two only got closer.

"You know, Naruto never loses it like that, the way he does whenever you're in danger, whenever people insult you. Whether it be against Orochimaru or even Uchiha Itachi… Sure he's hot-headed and rash. And he hates seeing his friends hurt. But when it comes to you its different…it's pretty dangerous, and not just for him.

"He's chased you around the world, but not out of some weird hero complex where he feels he has to save you because you can't save yourself or anything…I don't think he thinks that at all. It's probably never even crossed his mind. When he says that you're friends…he's not saying you need him, he's saying _he_ needs _you._ He needs to be able to see you in order to chase after you. How can he compete with you if you're not there? I think he's terrified of losing you in some far off battle that he can't see. It's probably also some weird form of jealousy…because you're _his_ rival, no one else can lay a hand on you. I guess that's why he made that promise with you too…

"Do you know how long it took him, how hard he worked to be able to call himself your equal? For the sake of making that promise? He's trained harder than I've ever seen anyone train. And he probably trained _even harder_ when no one was watching. His determination changed everyone around him. Even though a lot of people disagreed with his wish to bring you back, even though a lot of people told him you couldn't be trusted, still they couldn't really go against him. They might have disagreed but they thought **if this is what Naruto wants then it must be right**. I wonder why we all thought that…

"He doesn't think he's better than you. He doesn't condemn you for what you've done, but he doesn't forgive you either. He doesn't judge you at all. Even the fights when you disagree on something, he wants those. The only thing that matters to him is that he can watch you, chase after you, fight with you and once in a while, fight _for _you. You balance each other out. He just wants to stand by your has been his dream. A dream as strong-no, **stronger** than his dream to become Hokage.

So don't you dare think for even a second, that he's doing this out of pity for you. I don't know why you would even begin to think that. _Or is it that you think so little of yourself now?_"

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It's one of the first things I've ever written but I hope you enjoyed it! (even though it's really short) I might be posting a few more things within this AU in the future, but mostly short drabbles since the real "meat" of the story is in the ongoing roleplay I have with one of my good friends. If you're interested feel free to contact me with questions! Comments and Reviews are much appreciated since I am only a beginner. Thanks for reading~


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